Lady Kelpi Translations

Chapter Seventy-Two:
My Best Friend’s Wedding (Part 1)

In Shaoshang’s previous life, if the national male god had been engaged to a notorious little bitch, it would have taken three hours for the news to spread. In this life, the engagement between her and Ling Buyi spread among the noble aristocratic circles of the capital in three days.

The calm of the previous three days led the Cheng family to mistakenly believe that the worst situation after the engagement would be to eat with the groom. From the fourth day, they were hit by a volley of public opinion outside. Except for the kind-hearted onlookers like Wan Songbai, who had been friends for years, everyone else had sour and piercing eyes. Shallow and direct, with a strange and sinister tone as they greeted Commander Cheng. If he was lucky enough to have his family climb, don’t forget them. Deep and direct, congratulations to their face but satirizing the Cheng family as soon as their backs were turned.

“Father, don’t pay attention to them,” Shaoshang comforted. “They’re jealous of you.”

“Nonsense! They think I don’t know that if Ling Buyi proposed marriage to their daughters, they wouldn’t prepare a dowry overnight and marry her off?” Cheng Shi was so angry that he smashed the wine bottle next to him.

The three other brothers of the Cheng family were better off.

Cheng Yong wrote a letter offering that the friendship between gentlemen was as light as water. His close colleagues and friends in daily life were either bookworms who didn’t listen to gossip, or genuinely happy for the marriage.

Cheng Song’s camp was originally Wan Songbai’s sphere of influence. He had always been cheerful and heroic. Even when someone came to speak sour words to him, they were quickly suppressed by the group.

Cheng Shaogong, in order to not be assigned by his mother to accompany his sister and Ling Buyi, was extremely ruthless in making sarcastic remarks while out, without losing favor. The teacher at the school was so afraid of causing trouble he ordered the students not to talk about it again.

By comparison, Madam Xiao was much wiser. She seemed to have expected that she would simply not go out these days. She either hid at home to instruct Shaoshang how to read and write, or go out with Cheng Yang to check on the accounts. Why didn’t she bring her own daughter? This time, it wasn’t Madam Xiao showing any bias. The groom came to the house every day. If she brought her daughter, Ling Buyi would terrify her husband and sons to death.

Shaoshang was also very uncomfortable.

Regardless of the physical age of her and Lou Yao, her psychological age was always slightly older. In her eyes, Lou Yao was more like a fellow student in her hometown or a shy student in the laboratory. Although she had no intention of surpassing them, she could always grasp the general directions of daily interactions. Ling Buyi wasn’t the case, as he had been on his own since he was young. Whether studying or training, he had his own opinions. Not only did he follow Shaoshang in everything like Lou Yao had, but he also demanded Shaoshang follow him.

For example, when Shaoshang was in Hua County, she wanted to steal wine. Although Lou Yao knew that drinking cold wine in early spring was not good, he would still stumble to find the drink under Shaoshang’s unreasonable reasoning. When Shaoshang made the same request just now, Ling Buyi firmly stated that drinking cold wine in early summer was not a good way to maintain one’s health. From the harm it caused to the organs, he said Shaoshang should exercise more frequently. Shaoshang’s misconception that ‘people should not abuse young people’ didn’t work for him. Instead, he was filled with a bunch of Classical Chinese ideas that ‘indulgence in small things is postponed to the big ones.’

However, he clearly understood the art of negotiation, and when he saw Shaoshang was about to explode, he would let it go and allow her to drink only one glass, then he would have to drink half her glass first. The result was that Shaoshang took the trouble to request only one and a half sips of ice wine for half a day!

She was half angry, and the young man across from her was still hanging his long eyelashes and sighing softly. “I’ll take a step back today.”

Shaoshang really wanted to start hitting people. She knew she couldn’t because of her promise to her parents to not beat up others.

Simply put, Shaoshang had a big idea, but Ling Buyi’s idea was even bigger than hers. Shaoshang was born with perseverance and determination, but Ling Buyi was even more decisive and determined than her, and persevered without hesitation. Shaoshang was a diamond drill bit but Ling Buyi was a diamond lathe.

The Great Sage of Qi Tian had profound magic power, but he was still under the Five Finger Mountain. So, Shaoshang wondered that it was the Daode Tianzun who had a strong fire, the imperial plaque in Lingxiao Palace was safe, and the Queen Mother, Pantao Mao, scolded the Tathagata, your cruel old enemy, why should he bully me into keeping my order?

Stepping on a horse, forced by Ling Buyi, she couldn’t even write limericks! Now, thinking about it, she had a little monster-like intuition when she wanted to keep a distance from Ling Buyi, without knowing his temperament for no reason.

Although they had only been together for four days, Shaoshang realized that Ling Buyi wasn’t happy.

He remained silent, not because he had nothing to say, but because he didn’t want to speak. He was rude to all the noble women that day, not because of his sharp nature, but because he was too lazy to deal with them again and again. It would be better to speak harshly once and for all. If he wanted to be polite anyone, he could achieve the goal of turning spring breeze into rain and being considerate to the fullest.

Like Lou Yao, when he saw that the brocades newly made by his weavers looked good, he picked out a few he thought looked good and would send them over. The gifts that Ling Buyi sent ranged from Grandmother Cheng’s beloved meat and gold objects to the delicate and sturdy soft bow and arrows for Little Cheng Zhu and Little Cheng Ou, and even Cheng Yang, who hadn’t said a word, was given summer brocade that best matched her complexion. Every gift sent to the Cheng family members were loved by everyone.

Shaoshang really didn’t understand why such a beautiful and young man was still so sullen and unhappy at such a young age. He was in the prime of his life and needed the wind and rain. If it were her, she would be able to burn buns to the open sea!

She didn’t know her fiancé, couldn’t understand the meaning in his eyes like a deep sea, nor could she fathom his actions.

However, she never liked to delve into people’s worries. If she had been digging deep into the root and found out that the group of eight woman in town were discussing unbearable things, wouldn’t it not have added to her anger? She also knew that her neighbor, Bai Yue Guang, was actually very tired of his notorious little sister. However, due to his good upbringing, she had been treated gently. Wouldn’t that cause her to vomit blood?!

It was best not to provoke him.

Ling Buyi never spoke harsh words to her, in fact he often had a gentle expression and soft words. But, the little monster’s intuition made her not dare to make any mistakes. Take the ice wine as an example, she was playing tricks and insisted on drinking it. Ling Buyi didn’t get angry with her and only had someone report it to the Cheng Shi couple. Cold wine and hot wine were banned for her, and even sweet wine was not allowed to be licked until she softened. When the truth was not on her side, Shaoshang often wouldn’t be stubborn for a long time, and taking it as soon as she saw it was good was her key to saving life for many years.

Besides, Ling Buyi obeyed her in everything and did not control her from doing this or that.

Sometimes he would watch her practice calligraphy patiently, grinding ink and laying paper for her, and guided her wrists. This would often go on for half an hour. Next door, Cheng Shi and his wife always asked Qing Cong to urge him to go home.

Sometimes, Shaoshang would make small wooden models such as waterwheels and farming implements based on her drawings. Her little finger was soft and she didn’t have any tools at hand, so she couldn’t cut down the pieces of wood into the shapes she wanted.

Ling Buyi only glanced a few times the first day and asked her to practice calligraphy first in the next couple of days, then do those handicrafts later. A day later, he brought her a small and exquisite set of refined iron tools wrapped in deer skin, including a small axe, knife, ink bucket, iron ruler, claw hammer, wooden file, a drill and two small handles. A small, long and short handsaw, plus a pair of soft and comfortable leather gloves….

“I thought you would do it for me.” Shaoshang smiled as she fondled each small tool as if the heat of the cast iron on it had not cooled. She then realized that Ling Buyi kept several skilled blacksmiths.

“I’ll do the hard work for you. If I’m not here, find a servant to do it, and you can do the rest yourself.” Ling Buyi took her little hand and lowered his head carefully to put on the gloves, checking if they fit.

“This is what you want to do, what you love to do, and always makes you wish for it,” he said lightly. “However… if you hurt yourself, all of this will be banned.”

Shaoshang knew that he meant well and happily nodded. She felt that Ling Buyi was even more comforting than Lou Yao, who obeyed everything. She felt that he understood her and didn’t consider her strange, nor dissuade her under the pretext of avoiding danger. There was no absolute safety in this world where one can choke to death while eating.

Ling Buyi seemed to particularly like her vivid and charming appearance. Sometimes, even if she stomped her feet and lost her temper, he would look at her with a smile on his face. Shaoshang once again faintly realized that he was quite tolerant of herself, so she was willing to endure many things and ask him to correct her various habits, such as drinking cold wine, not liking vegetables, or walking barefoot on the porch.

But there were always things that could not be endured.

On the fifth day, the Lou family sent a wedding invitation in a twisted manner, and Ling Buyi was also invited. He asked his fiancé to go with him but was rejected by Shaoshang.

“I have already told my parents that I won’t go that day. You guys can go,” Shaoshang muttered. In fact, the Cheng Shi couple had also agreed that she wouldn’t go. If it weren’t for the sake of showing that the Lou and Cheng families weren’t at odds, they wouldn’t want to go either. It would be too awkward.

Ling Buyi looked at her for a moment. “You better go,” he said. “I’ll pick you up, then.”

“I won’t go,” Shaoshang said. She lowered her head.

Ling Buyi glanced to the left and right, and A’Zhu’s heart froze when she was seen. She immediately understood and quickly took away all the maidservants, leaving only the two of them inside the room.

Shaoshang looked at the pre-war clearance like behavior and turned around in anger, “It’s no use what you say, I won’t go!”

Ling Buyi walked slowly to her side, turned her small shoulders around and looked at her with a determined expression. “Speak well, speak up, and I won’t ask you to go.”

Shaoshang suddenly missed her previous life’s powerful body. She was held in the palm of a young man’s powerful hand and couldn’t move. “What’s the point of asking?” she said. “I was engaged to A’Yao before and now he’s marrying someone else. I have to go congratulate him. What kind of thing is this? It’s so embarrassing! Princess An Cheng would think I’m there just to cause a scene!”

Ling Buyi looked at her and said, “So, are you going to avoid him for the rest of his life?”

“Of course not!” Shaoshang blurted out. “This should be done slowly…”

“According to your statement, I shouldn’t go to the Lou family wedding banquet either. After all, I just became engaged to you and it would be embarrassing for both parties to meet,” Ling Buyi said slowly. “Lou Yao would see me and think I would make a scene.”

“How can this be the same! Don’t use my words against me!” Shaoshang felt anxious. “The Lou family values you so much, and A’Yao treats you like an older brother. How can you not go? A’Yao always thinks people are good, and he would never maliciously speculate about you.”

Ling Buyi stopped speaking. He quietly looked down at the girl and softly chuckled to himself. “…Do you still have A’Yao in your heart? You still can’t bear to part with the marriage.”

Shaoshang twisted anxiously. She couldn’t say, ‘Oh, you guessed it, you’re so smart!’

“Outsiders say I am a million times better, but in your heart, I’m afraid I am not as good as Lou Yao.” Ling Buyi’s expression was indifferent. “Have you ever thought that it would be best if I had married He Zhaojun to fulfill your marriage with Lou Yao?”

“No! I’ve never thought of that!” Shaoshang shouted loudly.

As soon as those words were spoken, she herself froze.

During the time, when she was in a hurry to seek medical treatment, she thought about Yuan Shen marrying He Zhaojun, about the Emperor letting a prince marry He Zhaojun, and even thought about which Lou family brother could marry her after breaking off their marriage. However, she never thought about letting Ling Buyi marry He Zhaojun.

“You’re just talking,” Ling Buyi said coldly.

“No, it’s true,” Shaoshang said urgently, knowing that even if she was mischievous, she could never joke about such a thing. “I think…” She was full of reasons. “I think you’re a very good and kind person. You’ve saved so many people and helped me so many times. You deserve the best bride in the world! Not those sharp and mean so-called noble women. Not He Zhaojun. Not me…”

Ling Buyi’s eyes widened and his gaze became soft and warm, like a sudden melting of an ice river.

“I just treat A’Yao as my… my best friend!” Shaoshang saw that he didn’t speak, and as this misunderstanding persisted, she continued urgently. “If I have half a lie, tell me to be so stupid!” As she spoke, she picked up a pottery bottle used to wash brushes on the desk and forcefully threw it on the ground.

With a loud bang, the bottle shattered and the skirt of Shaoshang was splashed with water.

“Don’t move!” Ling Buyi said in a sickly voice.

Of course, Shaoshang dared not move. People took off their shoes and put on socks to be indoors. Stepping on broken pottery shards was not fun.

A’Zhu heard the sound and wanted to come in. Ling Buyi called out, “It’s nothing, don’t come in and get a broom.” A’Zhu was very eager to break through the door, but remembered that Madam Xiao had said she wanted to obey Ling Buyi’s orders as much as possible.

Ling Buyi took the broom from the outside, lightly swung it with his left hand, and wrapped the long sleeve as wide as a flowing cloud around his left arm, the end held in the palm. At the same time, slender, powerful fingers gently lifted the sleeve of his right arm. Then, in front of the girl’s astonishment, this young, powerful minister, who was famous for his beauty and difficulty getting close to the capital city, actually swept the floor in front of her?!

Shaoshang felt foolish.

Although Ling Buyi had been independent since childhood, it was obvious that his ten fingers didn’t touch the spring water. At first, the sweeping motion was clumsy going from left to right. However, someone who was capable could do everything, and he quickly figured out the main idea. He swept the broken pottery pieces on the ground to one side, and then laid a cushion on the wet area for Shaoshang to step on.

Shaoshang stumbled with her skirt and finally jumped out. Ling Buyi pulled her to the other side of the room and sat down.

“Lou Yao is your best friend. What about the Thirteenth Daughter of the Wan family?” Ling Buyi loosened his left sleeve. “If you don’t speak clearly today, I will tell her what you said.”

“How can you be like this?” Shaoshang was furious. “I just feel like A’Yao is not easy either. If you’re afraid of getting angry, he treats me wholeheartedly. Now he is not only forced to marry someone he used to dislike, but he has to see us together on the day of his marriage. It’s too pitiful…”

Ling Buyi pulled the girl’s two white hands over and opened them to check for any scratches.

Shaoshang touched his slightly chilly palm, feeling a bit embarrassed. However, when she saw his fingerbones were long and powerful, his knuckles long and thick, and skin pale, she suddenly remembered that day. In front of the hunting house, he held up a dazzling giant weapon high and cut a thief in two… with just those hands.

“If you’re okay in your heart, you should go,” Ling Buyi looked up at her as he spoke. “If Lou Yao decides to be okay in the future, he shouldn’t avoid seeing you with anyone. On the contrary, he should be happy that you became engaged so quickly and not become a joke among those stingy people.”

In a certain way, Shaoshang would indeed be grateful to Ling Buyi. If it weren’t for his proposal, those old enemies would have laughed and pitied her behind her back – she and Lou Yao were just climbing high at the beginning, and now they were finally knocked down again.

“Everyone won’t laugh at me anymore,” Shaoshang sighed a little and looked helplessly at Ling Buyi. “It’s hard to say right now if all those girls who admire you are scolding and hating me behind my back.”

Ling Buyi smiled slightly. “So no one bullied or slandered you before meeting Lou Yao and me?”

Shaoshang was stunned.

“Human nature is inherently good, and human nature is also evil.” Ling Buyi smiled and looked at her, holding the girl’s tender little hands in his. “We cannot lose our guard and become prey to the sword just because we believe in human nature’s goodness. We also can’t avoid the evil of human nature and never dare to face it directly.”

Shaoshang looked into his dark brown eyes, which were as deep as an ancient pool, without any ripples.

After a while, she forcefully pulled her hands away and took a breath. “Okay, you’re right,” she said. “I’ll just listen to you! I’ll go to the Lou wedding, why not?”

So, the conclusion of this was: even if the Sun Monkey didn’t make any trouble in the Heavenly Palace, the Tathagata would come and suppress it, otherwise who would protect the Tang Monk Wanli to obtain the true scriptures. No matter who she married, since she has such bad luck, there would always be women coming to look for gossip.

“Ling Buyi,” Shaoshang suddenly whispered.

Ling Buyi was quite surprised. She had never called him by his full name before.

“Why don’t you marry one of those little girls who admires you like a god?” Shaoshang lowered her head. “If you tell them the sun is square, they would agree with you.”

Ling Buyi turned his head slightly to contemplate and smiled faintly, shining like a pearl. “I don’t know.”

“You can also see my temperament,” she said dejectedly. “It’s both stubborn and unruly. Why on earth do you want to marry me?”

“I don’t know, either,” Ling Buyi said after another moment of contemplation.

“You told me to say things clearly, but you won’t say anything yourself!” Shaoshang angrily said.

Ling Buyi smiled and comforted the young girl whose hackles were up. “His Majesty always said, ‘I live without any human breath, like a wondering soul.’”

The Emperor and Director Xiao had similar ideas.

“When you enter the Changqiu Palace, His Majesty will see that I am most alive when I am with you.”

…

A’Zhu rushed to the Nine Zhui Hall and informed her master and madam of their daughter’s decision to go to the Lou family wedding. She saw that the three young masters were also present.

“What did I say? I knew Ling Buyi was going to go to the Lou wedding with Niao Niao. I knew this would happen.” Cheng Shi patted his thigh as he spoke to his wife.

“Didn’t you say there was a loud noise and something smashed?” Madam Xiao asked. “Is someone hurt?”

“It was just a pot for washing brushes,” A’Zhu replied. “Master Ling said he accidentally knocked it over.”

She looked at her madam and said, “But I think it was Young Mistress who knocked it over, because her clothes were wet and Master Ling only had a few drops on his robe.”

The Cheng family looked at each other.

“Madam, if there is nothing else, I will go back now,” A’Zhu said. “Master Ling brought an extremely valuable long skirt with a curved train, all woven with gold and silver, and a row of shiny and snowy sea pearls on the collar. Master Ling asked Young Madam to change into it for him, so that she can wear it to the mansion. I’m afraid the maidservants may not be serious and accidentally damage it.”

“Go ahead,” Cheng Shi waved his hand irritably.

After A’Zhu withdrew, Cheng Shaogong turned dark and said, “Niao Niao is a useless person. She talks back to Mother and quarrels with her brothers every day, and it seems like she is causing some harm. When faced with a bully, she wilts!”

“Shaogong, don’t talk wildly,” Cheng Yong whispered.

“I think Niao Niao has done her best,” Cheng Song came out to make a comeback, looking at his parents and then his brother. “You see, she dares to smash things at Ling Buyi. Elder Brother, Third Brother, would you dare? I wouldn’t!”

Cheng Yong let out a long sigh. “In the future, what can we do with Niao Niao?”

Father Cheng thought for a moment and optimistically said, “Think about the good, maybe Niao Niao will become the kind of gentle and dignified young lady your mother likes the most in the future.”

After speaking, he pointedly looked at his wife. Madam Xiao sighed in her heart. She now felt that her daughter’s present condition wasn’t bad. Although she was a bit rough and impatient, she was full of vitality, lush, and fearless, just like the first ray of sunshine in the morning. She was busy and diligent in studying every day according to her own ideas and arrangements. She practiced calligraphy, cultivated soil to germinate, and never slacked off.

When people saw that, their hearts opened up.

…

I just can’t get over how smooth Ling Buyi is. Shaoshang doesn’t stand a chance, haha.

On a more serious note, the entire world right now is a mess. I don’t want to get political here because I’d like to consider this a safe space for everyone. However, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and now Israel, is just unimaginable. I know that a good portion of my readers are from those areas of the world. My thoughts are with you and your families. Please be safe and stay strong.

Next Chapter: My Best Friend’s Wedding (Part 2)